DEGREES OF DEATH

DEGREES OF DEATH

The afternoon rain fell unevenly, leaving behind thick humidity that trapped body heat inside the stifling faculty cafeteria.

Daniel leaned back against a hard wooden chair, his eyes fixed seriously on his laptop screen. Blue light from the monitor reflected in his pupils, showing scenes from a zombie movie playing on repeat. He was not really paying attention to the details. He was just killing time, waiting for the hunger twisting in his stomach to be satisfied. “Is it going to take much longer,” he muttered.

Beside him, Xavier was completely unfazed. He chewed loudly on potato chips, occasionally wiping crumbs onto his already wrinkled T-shirt. Meanwhile, Chania sat close to Daniel’s side. Her eyes were locked on the screen, but her fingers clenched the edge of the wooden table until they turned white, revealing restrained terror.

“There are so many zombies.” Xavier muttered between crunches. “Seriously, I’d freak out if something like this actually happened on our campus.”

Daniel let out a short breath and gave a bitter laugh. He looked away from the screen and stared at Xavier, who had just launched the dumbest conspiracy theory of the century. “Impossible, Vier. That’s just CGI. Logically, a virus that can revive the dead has never existed in medical records.” Daniel said flatly. He was shielding himself with scientific reasoning.

“Yeah, just imagining it.” Xavier replied casually, as if the apocalypse were an arcade game. “But it would be kind of exciting, right? Imagine us running for our lives through faculty hallways, using wooden sticks or chairs as weapons.”

Daniel clicked his tongue and smacked the back of Xavier’s head hard enough that the snack bag nearly fell from his hands.

“Damn it. That hurt, Niel.” Xavier groaned, rubbing his head.

“See, Xavier’s brain gets worse every day.” Chania added, backing Daniel as she kept watching the movie.

“Be patient, Daniel. Your food is being cooked by Becca. Five more minutes, okay,” said a middle-aged woman in a chef’s apron as she placed a plate of fried rice near Xavier.

“Five minutes feels like forever when your stomach’s already screaming, Ma’am.” Daniel complained softly. He glanced at the wall clock above the juice counter. The hands pointed to a time that should have been their meeting point already. “Becca is totally doing this on purpose. And where is Bianca anyway? They’ve been gone for half an hour just to buy soda and pizza, and they still haven’t come back.”

“Relax, Niel. You know how complicated girls get when they go out together,” Xavier said lightly, now busy with his phone. “They probably stopped to browse skincare or got stuck in one of those ridiculously long pizza lines.”

Daniel stood up and stretched his stiff body. “Man, I’m tired of sitting. I’m going to the restroom for a bit. Don’t go anywhere. Wait for Kim and Bianca here.”

*** 

After leaving the restroom, Daniel walked casually along the long corridor connecting the restroom area to the main cafeteria. His steps suddenly stopped. At the end of the corridor, a woman entered through the cafeteria’s side door with an unnatural gait. Her movements were stiff, as if her muscles had forgotten how to obey her brain.

Daniel narrowed his eyes. What sent chills down his spine was not the wound on her face, but the rhythmic clicking sound coming from her throat.

In a world he would soon come to know, that sound was a sign of something no longer human, and it was not something that happened to normal people.

The first scream exploded from inside the cafeteria. Chaos followed within seconds. Daniel ran to the cafeteria entrance and his world collapsed instantly. Chairs overturned, plates shattered, and the metallic scent of blood filled the humid air. Amid the sea of fleeing students, he saw Becca, a senior he had already considered family, struggling in the crowd.

“Becca.” Daniel shouted.

He lunged forward, trying to push through the panicked students to reach her. But he collided with another student blocking his path. That single second was enough. The twisted human leaped at Becca, sinking its teeth into her neck right in front of Daniel’s eyes.

Daniel froze. His legs refused to move. He watched in horror as Becca rose again within seconds. But she was no longer the Becca he knew. Her eyes were empty and feral.

“Becca ... no way.” Daniel rasped. Guilt slammed into him harder than any physical blow. He had failed to protect her. Someone crashed into him again, and an item dropped at his feet, drawing their attention toward him.

Realizing the danger was too close, Daniel turned and ran. On the stairs, he saw Chania just coming down, still holding a novel in her hands.

“Chania. Run, now. Don’t look back.” Daniel grabbed her arm and dragged her forcefully. “Go upstairs.”

On the upper-floor corridor, things were no better. The creatures emerged from behind pillars. Daniel was trapped. When one lunged at him, he rolled across the floor, struggling with all his strength as the rotting body nearly tore into his neck. Thick black fluid dripped onto his clothes, cold and nauseating.

“Run, Chania. Now,” Daniel shouted as he kicked the creature’s chest with everything he had left, sending it flying back.

“But, Niel?”

“NOW.”

Daniel grabbed Chania’s hand and sprinted toward the row of classrooms, bursting into one and trying to shut the door. At the doorway, Bianca appeared, holding the door open with a pale face streaked with blood. “Open it. Niel, open it.”

“Bianca?”

Daniel cracked the door just enough for her to slip inside. Once they were all in, he slammed the door shut and locked it. He dragged the heavy teacher’s desk forward and reinforced it with stacked wooden chairs, barricading the door as tightly as possible. Not just to block force, but to muffle sound.

The room fell silent, broken only by ragged breathing. Chania collapsed onto the floor, her face drained of color, frozen in shock. Bianca leaned against the wall, equally shaken.

Daniel clenched his fists. Becca’s image still burned in his mind. He closed his eyes and steadied his breathing. “Becca has changed,” he murmured.

They all turned to him at once, faces stricken. “Becca?”

Daniel nodded slowly, then realized something else. Xavier was not there. He looked at them sharply. “Where’s Xavier? Why isn’t he with you.” Daniel demanded, his voice rising.

Chania looked up, dazed. “I ... I went upstairs for a moment to grab my novel. I left Xavier alone at the cafeteria table.”

“Damn it!” Daniel growled and punched the wall. “That means he’s still in the cafeteria. He’s probably spacing out, or worse, trying to save my laptop instead of his own life.”

“You can fight, right? Why don’t you just fight them.” Bianca blurted out in a strangely casual tone, a sign that her mental defenses were starting to crack.

Daniel glared at her in frustration. “You think it’s that easy? They don’t feel pain, Bianca. Once they touch you, you’re finished.”

“That’s enough, Bianca. Fighting is pointless.” Chania said firmly. “We’re trapped here, understand? We can’t stay here forever. We’re women. We need Daniel, and we need Xavier too.”

Ignoring them, Daniel walked to the window and pulled the curtain aside slightly. The campus field below had become hell. “Look, if you don’t believe me. They attack first. We can’t fight them bare-handed,” he said firmly.

Bianca fell silent and stepped closer to the window, watching a student collapse in the middle of the field, swarmed by three ravenous creatures. “Monsters don’t need a screen to be real.” Daniel said quietly. “And now they’re here. Everything Xavier said has come true.”

Chania stood still, as if searching for something, then stepped forward and showed her phone to Daniel. “Daniel, look. This novel I once read. It’s exactly like this. Mutations accelerate in humid weather like this. They enter Phase Two, powerful listeners. They can detect sound from far away.”

Daniel took the phone and read the rules hidden within fiction. His scientific logic had shattered. Now, he had to survive using the laws of a storybook.

“Phase One ... that’s what I saw in that woman earlier.” Daniel murmured. He looked at Chania in horror. “They’re everywhere. This campus won’t survive.”

The pounding on the door returned. Rhythmic, constant, and terrifyingly patient. The barricaded desk trembled slightly. Daniel turned toward the door, holding his breath, signaling Bianca and Chania to stay completely silent.

“Daniel ... do they know we’re here.” Bianca whispered, barely audible.